Who is informed and who uninformed? Addressing the legal barriers to progress in dementia research and care

Jiska Cohen-Mansfield*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

Conduct of research is an essential tool for the evaluation and improvement of health services. In Israel, research on persons with dementia is very limited, with the largest portion of such research involving a few surveys and examining risk factors for dementia. Very few studies describe clinical research, and those that do either include participants at early stages of dementia, or rely completely on caregivers' perceptions and experiences, often without reference to any individual with dementia. This dearth of research is due, to a substantial extent, to Ministry of Health regulations which do not permit family proxy consent for research involving persons with dementia. Alternative models for regulation of consent for research exist in other countries, including the U.S., and these allow for proxy consent under certain conditions. This paper presents such a model and its underlying ethical principles. It contends that the current state of affairs, which stands in the way of clinical research concerning persons with advanced dementia, is contrary to the interests of such persons, their caregivers, and Israeli society. Therefore, this paper calls for a change in the present regulations and/or law in the cause of advancing knowledge and improving care for persons with dementia.

Original languageEnglish
Article number17
JournalIsrael Journal of Health Policy Research
Volume8
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 20 Feb 2019

Funding

FundersFunder number
Minerva Foundation

    Keywords

    • Dementia
    • Ethics
    • Human subjects research
    • Informed consent

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Who is informed and who uninformed? Addressing the legal barriers to progress in dementia research and care'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this